Potted Potter

This week we decided to take in another show.  Chizz had heard of a play involving the works of Harry Potter.  When we were in London we saw a show called The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.  The company (2 actors) performed the entire works of William Shakespeare in 2 hours.  As you might imagine, it is not a serious endeavor.  It was very funny and both Kiki & Snake enjoyed it quite a bit (especially once they realized that it was a farce).  So this Harry Potter thing Chizz had heard about was pretty much the same thing.  All 7 Harry Potter Books in 70 minutes.  As I am all about checking out different kinds of entertainment in preparation to make recommendations to our friends and family when they come visit (that and the tickets were not that expensive),  we decided to go.

Potted Potter is an off Broadway production.  You may be interested to know that the term "off Broadway" is not connected with the location of the theatre.  In fact there are some "off Broadway" shows that are in the Broadway area (ie Times Square).  Actually the term refers to the size of the theatre, not its location.  Theatres with a seating capacity ranging 100-499 are considered "off Broadway" no matter where they are located.  If it is "off-off-Broadway, the seating capacity is less than 100.  If the seating capacity is 6 or less, it is your living room and you need to get out more.  Just a little New York knowledge I am laying down on you!  You're welcome.

So we arrived at the theatre and there were quite a few kids, which wasn't really surprising upon reflection.  Although lots of adults read these books, they were really marketed toward kids.  So you could kind of feel the buzz in the audience. It is not like a lot of shows I have seen, there is some crowd participation and it isn't very quiet.  It is something the kids would definitely enjoy.  Along with the Playbill, each audience member gets a pair of paper Harry Potter glasses.    I saw quite a few adults  wearing them. 

It was interesting getting a look at the audience.  As expected quite a few young people.  But there were some other folks there that I am guessing were Harry Potter aficionados of some kind.    I am fairly certainly the men sitting next to us had no idea what they wandered into.  I really think they were teamsters and they thought this might be some kind of plumbing repair demonstration.  Both in their late 60s, a bit overweight, wearing shorts, tennis shoes and black socks.  You can visualize that can't you?  One was extremely angry someone sat in front of him.  In his seat.  Where he had every right to be.  But this guy spouted off something about people (the term he used was "fathead) coming in late (he wasn't) and sitting down in front of someone blocking their view (again, in the seat the person paid for).  And he wasn't saying this quietly.  He kind of sputtered it, his face got really red and he was outraged.  He also got fairly animated during the Quidditch demonstration.  He was upset people weren't taking it seriously.  Seriously, the game wizards play flying on brooms at a fictional wizard school.  He was angry no one tried to score.   Pretty strange.  I really wonder what show he thought he was coming to see. 

If you have kids and have read the books, it is fun and cute.  If  you don't have kid or haven't read the books,  I don't know that I would recommend this over another show in town at the time.  3 thumbs up from Wendy & Chizz.

Museum Mile Festival

There is a stretch of Fifth Avenue in New York called "Museum Mile".  It is actually a bit longer than a mile but let's not be sticklers about the details.  It is called that  because there are 10 different museums in that particular area.  On the second Tuesday of June, the city closes 5th Avenue to traffic between 82nd and 105th streets and people can walk through the streets between 6-9 p.m. and all of the museums are free.  I heard about it a few weeks ago and put it on my list of things to do.  Since Chizz was still on his "excellent adventure" with TR, I thought it was a good opportunity to check it out.

It  was raining like crazy that afternoon, and I almost considered skipping it.  I decided though I would regret it if I didn't go, so I talked myself back into it.  I was right (of course!) but after seeing the size of these rain puddles I was glad I wore my rain boots!  I left a little late and decided that I would try and hit the first museum closest to where I exited the park at 5:45, 15 minutes before the event was to start.  That museum was the Solomon R. Guggenheim.  I hadn't been there yet and I thought it was a good choice because I wasn't sure that Chizz would go to this museum because I (and he) was under the impression that it housed mostly modern art.  As I have mentioned time and time before, we are not necessarily the biggest modern art fans.  I thought minimally I would go and then kind of check this box so when people said "Guggenheim", I could say "oh yes, been there". 

I wasn't prepared for the line.  I thought the rain might "dampen" the enthusiasm for the event.  (Pun intended - hahahaha).



View of skylight in lobby

 I have to say, I was impressed by the Guggenheim.  It isn't too big.  I like a museum that you can do in a few hours and not feel you might have missed something important.  One of the highlights for me was actually the architecture of the Guggenheim.  .  The only photographs allowed were at the lobby level.    And it is an impressive lobby. 



Lobby



After wandering  through the museum it occurred to me that "modern art" is as a broad a category of art as the time frame it covers, roughly 1860 - 1970.   That is a huge span.  Think about it.  Can you think of anything else that remained the same during that time frame, methods of transportation, food, fashion, politics, farming?  So I found lots of art that I enjoyed and quite frankly a few things I didn't really enjoy.  I enjoyed looking at the Manets, Picassos, Pollocks.  As a side note, it  was surprising to learn how many "modern" artists died young (Manet 51, Pollock 44, Toulouse-Lautrec 36, Seurat 32).  Is there something about Modern art that contributes to the early demise of so many of its artists?  Do they burn bright and out early?  Are they all troubled?  There was a photography exhibit by Francesca Woodman. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1978.   Most of the photographs in this exhibit were nudes of young women, mostly of her.  Some were blurry on purpose, some in dilapidated rooms or buildings.  One especially disturbing photo was of Woodman, nude with wooden clothespins attached all over her body including her breasts.  It was incredibly dark.  Sadly she committed suicide at age 22 by jumping out of a building.  Somehow it doesn't surprise me. 

No line?

After the Guggenheim, I thought I would head up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the grande dame of museums in New York.  It probably would have a line down the block and I would go home but I thought it was worth a try.  On the way, I passed the Neue Galerie.  The Neue Galerie is a museum dedicated to German and Austrian art and I have heard many good things about it.  But there was a huge line there.  I think for the smaller spaces, this event can be overwhelming.  Too many people, not enough space.  When I got to the Met, I was surprised to see no line.  This was during the heart of the event.  I was able to go in and see several rooms and galleries in the time frame.  There are so many beautiful pieces, it is hard to see it all in one sitting.  Which I didn't!   One of the most interesting exhibits was the one involving the designs of Prada & Schiaperelli, called "Impossible Conversations".   It was an exhibit of examples of each designers work and in the background they played a video of the two talking about their style, inspiration, work ethic.  What makes it so interesting is that these women designed at different time frames and couldn't have possibly have had this conversation.  An actress plays Elsa Schiaperelli, who designed in the 30s-50s.  Miuccia Prada designs today and plays herself.  Schiaperelli's words are taken from her autobiography and Prada responds with her own thoughts and observations about her work.  It looks like two colleagues sitting in a very fancy dining room having a conversation.  Then they pair selections from each woman's work and these combinations look as if they were made for each other.  A Schiaperelli top with a Prada skirt, designed 40 years apart.  There are also historic photos of some of Schiaperelli's work being worn by Wallis Simpson and others.  I found it fascinating but I am thinking Chizz would not.  Good thing he wasn't there!

All in all a great event.   I was able to get into two different museums in the 3 hour time frame.  I think the key is choosing museums that are large enough to handle crowds.  Smaller venues have to really regulate how many people come in at a time and therefore quite a bit of time can be spent waiting without seeing anything.   My advice:  "Choose wisely."  (I like quoting from Princess Bride as often as I can in a day.) 

Cherry on Top

It was supposed to be kind of a low key weekend.   Chizz is off on a trip with a friend, ferrying a car across country.  It is a guy thing, stopping at baseball fields, breweries and the spam museum without any chicks around (thank goodness).  I was going to hang out in NYC on my own, had a few things I thought I might do but no real plans.   But then Snake called and he was wondering if it would be okay for him to come and hang out for the weekend?  Uh, yes.  Of course.  So up he came.  After sleeping in until about noon on Saturday, we decided to head out to the 9/11 memorial.  Snake hadn't been there before.  Afterward I took him to one of our favorite little bistros not far from the house. 

The next morning we decided to check out the Puerto Rico Day parade.  I had heard of the parade originally from Seinfeld, (remember when Kramer got chased by a mob after destroying the Puerto Rican flag?).  I have seen a few parades since we have moved here.  This city loves a parade and will pretty much let just about anyone celebrate their heritage.  However, the Puerto Rico Day parade has to be one of the largest, next to the St. Patrick's Day parade.  People lined up and down the street with their red white and blue. 

And I got to see my 4th famous person sighting.  For those of you keeping count:  Brian Williams - St. Patrick's Day Parade; Marcus Samuelsson (chef) Red Rooster - Harlem;  Angelo Sosa (chef - Top Chef) 9th Street Fair.  Does it say something about me that most of the people I recognize are chefs?   And here is number 4:

Governor Andrew Cuomo, marching in the Parade, holding the flag of his heritage.  Wait a minute. . . . I think this might be a polictically scripted moment.  Ya' think?

So after this, Snake wanted to go back and catch a little of the European Champions League matches on tv.  (soccer, you can take the boy out of London, can't take the London out of the boy).  So we watched for a little while, then Snake and I got an early dinner and put him on the subway to catch his bus back to DC.  It was nice having a little mother son bonding time.  He is a good kid and I appreciate more and more the young man he is becoming.  I could not be more proud.

So it was still pretty early in the evening and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do but knew I didn't want to go back to the apartment.  Originally I thought that I would kind of stalk the Tony Awards which were being held that night at the Beacon Theatre, in my very own neighborhood.  But I thought it might be too late.  I decided to head over anyway and see what I could see.  At the front of the theatre there were all kinds of people milling about in tuxedos and gowns but it really didn't look like I expected it to.  Where was the red carpet, where were the paparazzi, where were the stars of the stage?  Where was the hoopla? Then I remembered last week, when I was walking behind the theatre and saw them setting up what I thought was the electrical support for the evening. So I decided to check it out.  Voila!!!!!   


Hoopla! 

Back of Red Carpet

Now we are talking, crowds, cameras, limos. It was great.  The worst part for me is that I wasn't really prepared.  I didn't have the right camera and the one I had, the battery died about 20 minutes into my photo taking.  I was kind of far away so it was hard to get photos at all since I didn't really have a zoom.  After the camera died, I took photos with my crappy Iphone 3 camera.  You just have to trust me that the photos are who I say they are.  After all, you weren't there!

The crowd was great.  Everyone was in a good mood.  There were a few girls there who knew every single person that stepped out of a limo.  That is quite a feat, considering that quite a few of these people have done just theatre and are not necessarily household names (although they should be!).  So it was quite helpful that sometimes the girls clued us in on who just got out of a car.  John Stamos was there and he looks both suspiciously young and suspiciously tan.  He was very friendly and crossed the crowd to talk with people.  If you measure the squeal of the fans in a numeric scale from 0 being silence to 20 being a deafening roar, I would say he got a respectible 15 on the scale.  Which is kind of surprising.  Has he done much since Uncle Jesse?  Hugh Jackman was standing right in front of me for quite a bit of time giving an interview and the women kept screaming his name and trying to get his attention.  A little girl about 10 years old or so asked her dad who he was, she didn't know.  He paused for a minute and said "He's like Justin Bieber for older women".  Yep.  That pretty much sums it up.  One of the best surprises of the night was Matthew Morrison from Glee.  He got out of his limo started for the red carpet when all of the sudden he turned around came over to the crowd and just started running down the line up across the street, giving the entire front row high fives. 

Here he is going up the street:

And now coming back: 

Nice photograpy, huh?  Sigh.  I am officially definitely in the market for a new point-n-shoot camera that I can carry around in my purse that has a better response time than this!  But I digress.  It was more difficult to get photos of the women because they tended to get out of the car closest to the red carpet area and walk right in.  But we saw Amanda Seyfried, Audra McDonald, Kelli O'Hara, Jessica Chastain, Phylicia Rashad and others.   It was kind of sad when Candice Bergen arrived, not one blip on the squeal scale.  One woman and I were the only ones that recognized her in our group.  Sad.  Overall, this was a blast and I will be back next year.  It was just fun to hang out and see all the actors.  For the most part the actors seemed pretty excited to be there and did respond to the crowd by waiving and yelling back.   I spent quite a bit of time talking with a woman on her first trip to NYC.  She was visiting her son and daughter and was just thrilled to do this.  She kept saying over and over again to her daughter "this is the kind of stuf you can do because you live in New York, you are so lucky".  My sentiments exactly.   

What was supposed to be a low-key weekend turned out to be pretty cool.  I hung out with my son and got to do a few things on my bucket list.  Pretty lucky, indeed. 

Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow!

We haven't found a gym yet here in New York.  That wouldn't be so surprising for me as I pretty much hate to exercise.  I only do it because of the not wanting to die early thing, otherwise I would probably skip it all together.  But Chizz loves to exercise.  It is a stress reliever for him.  He enjoys working out and has done it pretty regularly since. . . . forever.   But ever since we have moved here, we haven't yet found a gym for a few reasons. 

First, the gym has to be in close proximity.  For Chizz that would be within 20 or 30 blocks, he will walk pretty far - truth be told.  For me, our living room.  Well, okay, the lobby of my building would be nice but I could settle for 10 blocks or so.  It is really a matter of what I would be willing to walk in the rain or -15 degrees.  I would most likely work out in the morning or afternoon.  Chizz likes to work out in the evening after work.  So there is our second requirement, the gym can't be too crowded after 7:30 p.m.  There is nothing worse than trying to get a quick work out in and have to wait for every machine.  And I am counting it as 3 but it really could be requirement 2B since it is a timing thing but we would like it to be open past 10:00 p.m., ideally 11:00 p.m. or so.  That is mainly for Chizz.  He often doesn't get home until 7:00 p.m. or may have an early work dinner and he would still like to get a workout in.  It doesn't leave much time if you get home at 7:00, eat dinner, digest, walk 30 blocks and still get your work out in before 10:00 p.m.

Lastly, the monthly charge cannot be more than our rent.  I jest but only a little. It is surprising how expensive gyms are here on the east coast.  In California we each paid $29.99 per month for 24 Hour Fitness.   Here the two closest gyms to us are $90 and $153 each per month!!!  And really nothing special, just normal work out places.  So we go from paying $60 for the gym to either $180 or $306 per month.  Because Chizz has been travelling so much and has had so many after work obligations, we just haven't motivated to making a commitment.  I don't mind paying $180 a month (but I really do) if we are using the facilities regularly.  But if Chizz can only go 1 time or so per week, it doesn't really seem worth the cost.  I am hoping that his schedule will calm down or they will build a 24 Hour Fitness closer to us.

So for exercise I have been walking around the reservoir pretty regularly.  I like it, it is pretty, I usually see something interesting and I can easily do two laps or 3 miles in about 45 minutes or so.  But lately I have been realizing that this is not challenging enough cardiovascularly for me.  In order to the prolong the dying early thing, your heart rate needs to race a bit on a regular basis.  So I have been trying to figure out what I can do to accomplish this goal.  Yesterday, it dawned on me.  I used to enjoy the various stair climbing machines at our old gym.  I have stairs in our apartment building.  Perhaps I could use those some how to pump it up a bit.  So yesterday, I put on my tennis shoes and walked down the 24 floors to the lobby.  Since I have one surgical knee, I thought I should take it easy my first day and see how it went.  I went down pretty fast, my heart was going, my knees seemed to hang in there and it went pretty well.  The stairs led right out the back door of the building and I went on to run my errands.

Since it went so well yesterday, this morning I decided to add on.  I went down, up, then down again.  The equivalent of 78 floors.  Again, it went pretty well.  I worked up a sweat pretty well, got the heart pumping and think I provided some entertainment for the doorman as I think the stairwells all have surveillance camers in them.  That is a bit comforting in case I have cardiac arrest, I am hoping it won't be too long until someone gets to me. 

I was feeling pretty good.  Until about 3 hours ago.  I was sitting on the subway coming home and realized when I got up, my legs hurt.  Then when I climbed up the stairs from the subway my legs hurt, a lot.  Now they are pretty much hurting all the time, moving or sitting.  I find it helps to moan or exclaim, "ow" everytime I move my legs and feel the pain.  I think Chizz finds it endearing.  Not.  But it reminds me of the running gag on Spongebob.  Whenever there is some kind of catastrophe scene, someone screams out "my leg" whether it applies or not.  A few weeks ago, Snake posted it on Auntie K's wall.  I found it too and I am putting it in below.  Each time you hear it, just imagine me saying "my legs".  I am sure you will find it endearing too.